X-Post: Six

Just one episode this time: "Arcadia".

I can still remember when I first heard about this episode - Mulder and Scully posing as a married couple to go undercover - and all I could think was that I'd come up with a similiar scenario twelve times over, but would have bet money on the fact that it would never actually happen. Which just goes to prove: I am ALWAYS right. :P

(Though it's still not as good as this comment between me and Naomi, one day before the airing of Farscape's "Coup by Clam" - "Sooner or later, they're going to have to put John in a dress"...)

Aaanyway. I have quite a bit I want to say about this one, so I'll try and be at least slightly coherent.

Firstly, in the aftermath of the "Two Fathers" / "One Son" mytharc two-parter and the agents being reinstated to the X-Files, we have a very typical monster-of-the-week type story, one which seems almost out of place at this late stage in the series. It has a very season 1/2 vibe about it in terms of the actual case, but the Mulder/Scully dynamic definitely places it otherwise.

Of course, the idea of them "playing house" (as Mulder puts it) is amusing enough in its own right, and you'd think this episode would be a shipper's delight. Indeed, Mulder uses the situation as an opportunity to drape his arm around Scully at any given moment, which is nice... but it actually ends up being almost the anti-ship. A NoRomo's delight instead. Far from domestic bliss, we get a glimpse of how completely incompatible these two are in terms of their living habits: Mulder is a slob and Scully would happily murder him as a result. The best thing is that his slobbishness is so typically male - squeezing the toothpaste from the middle and leaving the toilet seat up ("Third warning!" - brilliant!)

Their reactions to the situation are also interesting: Mulder is clearly loving every second of it, and Scully is quite emphatically not, if the pet name exchange is anything to go by. She is not exactly appreciative of being called "Honeybun" when she retaliates with "Poopyhead". :D Even their air-kisses whilst at dinner with the neighbours are tinged with a sense from Scully of merely tolerating. In fact, according to Inside The X's transcript (a godsend if ever there was one), Mulder actually leans in to kiss her and she avoids him. ;)

My absolute favourite bit in the entire episode has to be this:

Mulder: Admit it: you just want to play house. [Scully gives him a look. The doorbell rings and she goes to answer it.] Woman, get back in here and make me a samwich! [She stops, pulls off her latex gloves and throws them at his head.] Did I not make myself clear?!

Hilarious. :D

Mulder beating up the mailbox is also amusing, though his *ahem* creative solution to needing the loo is less amusing and more disgusting. Presumably trying to avoid getting in trouble for leaving the toilet seat up. :P

My other favourite moment is when Scully, fireplace poker in hand, is scouring the house for the intruder and nearly clocks Mulder on the head, because we get a lovely shot of her 'engagement' ring for no apparent reason. The transcript states that the episode is set around 26th February, which would place it a few days after Scully's birthday - I should know the exact date but my memory is failing, I just know it's in February. In any event, I kind of want to write a fanfic about that engagement ring... Like, where's it from? FBI resources, or one of their families?

I'm sure there's more I could say, but that's enough for one episode. I might watch it again later to enjoy the silliness again. :)